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Showing posts with label swung vase. Show all posts
Showing posts with label swung vase. Show all posts

Saturday, April 16, 2011

L. E. Smith Glass Company

A blog reader emailed me the other day for help identifying the maker of a large swung vase, which I thought to be made by L. E. Smith Glass Company. Most people are quick to think of Blenko and Fenton and Viking, but many forget or don't know about this company, which has a distinctive history and is still producing glass today.

L. E. Smith Glass Company has been in business since 1907 and is one of only a few remaining hand-made glass factories left in the United States.

The company manufactured the first headlight lens for the Model T Ford, as well as the original glass mixing bowl, and their vintage decorative items are valued by many collectors.

Like all the other glass companies of the time, L.E. Smith began producing colored glass in the mid 1920’s, making pink, green, amber, yellow, amethyst and cobalt pieces as early as 1926. In the late 1920’s, Smith Glass devised a formula for black glass that set it apart from other manufacturers of the time. This black glass, which shows amethyst when held up to a light, has proved to be the most collected in the industry.

In 2005, Smith Glass was purchased by William Kelman.

From lesmithglass.com

Large centerpiece bowl
blisstiques at etsy.com
Architectural swung glass vase
stylehive.com
Opaque bittersweet table vase
collectorsweekly.com
Black amethyst vase
centennialantiques.com
Rearing horse bookends that belonged to my parents
Center handle serving tray
clicksnipwow.com
Black amethyst rose bowl with clear frog
cyberattic.com

Saturday, January 22, 2011

The ubiquitous swung vase

Makers of mid-century glass, such as Viking Art Glass and L. E. Smith Glass Company, made swung vases, which were very popular. Other companies like Pilgrim, Fenton, Tiffin and Fostoria made their own versions of the swung vase, but they were not as common.

The vases generally ranged in height from a 7” bud vase to the giant “architectural” floor versions that were sometimes over 40” tall. They were hand-blown, then hand-swung to lengthen, and then the opening was hand-tooled and heat polished smooth.  The vases were literally swung around to produce the neck, with stunning results. 

Popular colors were amberina (an orange-red fading to yellow, also called persimmon), green, amber, red, blue and an opaque orange usually referred to as bittersweet. However, the vases can be found in other colors, such as peach, amethyst, pale yellow, pale aqua and even multi-colored art glass versions.

With the exception of the very large pieces, these iconic mid-century vases were produced in large quantities, so they are still easy to find and very reasonably priced.
L. E. Smith architectural vase
stylehive.com
Tiffin vase
retroartglass.com
Viking vases
retroartglass.com
Fenton hobnail opalescent vase
replacementslimited.com
L. E. Smith aqua blue vase
replacementlimited.com
Fenton amber hobnail vase
replacementslimited.com
Viking amethyst vase
ebay.com
L. E. Smith vase
retroartglass.com
L. E. Smith bittersweet vase
ebay.com
My daughter's collection of swung vases